Labor and Labor Practices

Elections can take place for three possible reasons: to vote on joining a union, to vote on switching membership from one union to another, and to vote on decertifying a union. When 30 percent of an employer's workforce desire an election, it usually must be held, with some major exceptions. No election may be held within twelve months of any prior election or within twelve months of the creation of a union. Elections are also barred during the first three years of any labor agreement except during a period directly before the expiration of that agreement. Elections may also be overturned and held again if the NLRB finds evidence of irregularities in the conduct of the election.

All full-time employees are eligible to vote; in some cases part-timers may vote as well. Salts, union organizers who become employees of firms in order to organize them, are usually permitted to vote. If the union wins a majority, it is now certified by the NLRB as the bargaining agent of the employees.